Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday lauded "140 crore Indians" for standing united during the energy crisis triggered by the US-Iran war, saying citizens defeated attempts to spread fear, rumours and instability while the government worked to shield the country from the fallout of the conflict.PM Modi says India averted fuel shortages and sharp price hikes during the West Asia conflict through diplomacy, higher LPG output and diversified oil imports. (HT_PRINT)In a post on X, PM Modi thanked citizens for standing firmly with the country during what he described as one of the most challenging global energy crises in recent times, saying public trust helped foil attempts to create instability.“I express my gratitude to 140 crore fellow countrymen... I thank them... In the way they stood firmly with the country during this difficult time,” he said.He also discussed attempts to “foil conspiracies” and “spread rumours”."In the way the countrymen confronted those spreading rumours, fear and confusion... They foiled the conspiracies to create instability in the country. The country has moved forward on the strength of that very trust," he said.Also Read | India overcame West Asia energy crisis through timely decisions, diplomacy: PM ModiPM on ‘will power of new India’In another post, PM Modi credited the "willpower of New India" and the government's timely response for helping the country navigate the crisis.He said India accurately assessed the situation, formulated an effective strategy, balanced the use of its resources and leveraged its diplomatic outreach to minimise the impact of the global disruption."On the biggest energy crisis of the 21st century... The willpower of New India in the 21st century and India's efforts have prevailed heavily," he said.PM Modi added that India "made the right decisions at every level", "accurately assessed the crisis in time", "formulated an effective strategy", "made balanced use of India's resources" and "made positive use of India's diplomatic power", saying these measures enabled the country to recover from the crisis.Also Read | PM Modi welcomes US-Iran peace deal. Here's what he said India hopes forIndia will expand its crude oil refining capacity: PM ModiPM Modi also said India will continue expanding its crude oil refining capacity to strengthen energy security, even as several Western countries scale back or shut refinery operations.Inaugurating the country's first new refinery in a decade, Modi said India remained committed to building new refining infrastructure to ensure the security of its fuel supply chain."No new refinery has come up in the US in the last five decades and capacity in Europe has also been constantly declining," Modi said, adding that India would continue to expand its refining capacity, according to a Bloomberg report.The 180,000-barrels-per-day greenfield refinery in Rajasthan's Thar desert has a petrochemical production capacity of 2.4 million tonnes annually and was built at a cost of $8.3 billion. It is only new refinery commissioned globally this year, the report added.